Strike Ends

The DRC voted tonight to end the strike. The last proposal sent our way by the BOT bargaining team can form the basis of a tentative agreement we can submit to members. We’ll provide more details on the proposal in coming days, and the full text of the contract once it is worked out with the BOT. There will be at least one meeting to answer members’ questions about the agreement, followed by a vote by the full membership on whether or not to ratify the agreement.

In the meantime, here’s the text of a press release sent out to the media.

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Strike ends at SIUC

The faculty strike at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is over.

The SIUC Faculty Association’s Departmental Representative Council (DRC) voted tonight to end the strike after it was presented with a revised administrative proposal will form the basis of a tentative agreement to be submitted to the full membership. All faculty will return to their normal duties Thursday morning.

“This new proposal represents a marked improvement over where we were just a few days ago, before the strike began,” said Association Spokesperson Dave Johnson. “It improves shared governance on this campus. It preserves the tenure system at SIUC. It strengthens transparency and accountability in ways that will help ensure that academic values remain paramount, while allowing the administration adequate flexibility to deal with any future financial crisis. And it will help protect academic freedom. All these things will protect quality education at SIUC for years to come. We’ve got a few remaining issues to iron out, and some things that need to be clarified, but we’re confident that we’re going to end up with a tentative agreement for our members to vote on.”

Specific provisions of the proposal will not be released publicly at this time. After the respective bargaining teams complete the language, a tentative agreement will be presented to all faculty association members for a final vote.

“Resolve and determination by faculty on strike were essential to making this progress,” Johnson said. “But we also could not have made this progress without strong support from the Non-tenure Track Faculty Association, the Association of Civil Service Employees, and Graduate Students United. These friends and fellow union members were absolutely vital to our success. Above all, we are immensely thankful to the undergraduate students who came out day after day, joined us at the picket lines, and marched across campus in our support. For many faculty, the most lasting memory of this strike will be seeing hundreds of students marching in support of their professors. Their support for us was and is absolutely inspirational. We are eager to return to our classrooms and teach these students who have done so much to help us. It is time now for us to work together with our fellow faculty members, with our students, and with the SIUC administration in order to make SIUC the very best university it can be.”